nounEtymology: New Latin, from Latin, hard outer covering, shell, from putare to clean, pruneDate: 1890
the large dark lateral part of the basal ganglion which comprises the external portion of the corpus striatum and which has connections to the caudate nucleus

putamen — [pyo͞o tā′mən] n. pl. putamina [pyo͞otam′i nə] [ModL &LT; L, that which falls off in pruning, waste &LT; putare, to prune, cleanse: see PURE] the hard stone, or endocarp, of certain fruits, as of the peach and the plum, or the shell of a nut … English World dictionary

Putamen — 1. A specific area within the brain, the putamen is one of three portions into which a structure called the lenticular nucleus is conventionally divided. The putamen is structurally similar to the caudate nucleus together with which it composes… … Medical dictionary